Walk Worthy Press: A Man Inspired

Author Testimony

"As the son of a church deacon and a Sunday school teacher, early on I was introduced to the Christian faith by having to be in church most any time those church doors opened. Debating the issue of attending so much or trying to make excuses for not going never worked (although I tried, let me tell you!) But now I can look back on those wonder years and give God all the praise for blessing me with that foundation.

My father, the deacon, was also a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force, so as such we ended up traveling to a new city every four years when he would get relocated. Traveling around like that was a blessing in disguise, because it afforded me a chance to experience many cultures and places during my youth. So, though I was born in Fort Worth, Texas, I've lived in Guam, California, and South Carolina, as well as having visited most every major city in the United States. That exposure in witnessing firsthand how people lived and worked in various parts of the country was a vital part of my upbringing in addition to being raised in church.

The other critical part of my childhood was having a mother who was an avid reader, and who passed that love of reading on to me. As well as being a Sunday School teacher she was also a first grade teacher. She made her living by teaching kids how to read, and I have great childhood memories of her reading to me or listening to me read back to her during those formative years. As I grew up, I became just like her in the sense that I devour books and newspapers like they're going out of style, too. And from that love of reading came a natural inclination to write.

I accepted Christ into my life at age seven, but as is sometimes the case when this decision is made in your youth, I wasn't as sold-out in my walk as I should have been. I don't think it was so much a matter of not knowing right from wrong or having examples to pattern my life after as much as I just didn't realize you could actually be sold-out for Christ while you were young. I thought it was par for the course to become serious about your walk with God much later in your life, after you've had all your "fun" and there was nothing else better to do.

But when I went off to college at the University of Houston in the fall of 1996, I was quickly introduced to a group of radical, sold-out believers during just my third week there. That was another blessing in disguise. This group happened to be the gospel choir on campus, and every Friday night they would hold Bible study and choir rehearsal in the University Center's student lounge. Now, I wasn't much of a singer, but this group became the missing ingredient to my life because they were genuine in their walk - you didn't even have to look that close to actually see the love of Jesus radiating through them. For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by people my age who actually "walked the walk and talked the talk." Talk about a mind-blowing experience! The spiritual foundation that had been laid in my life from years and years of being in church was now infused with a tangible peer group that strengthened, exhorted, rebuked, and encouraged me to make sure I was living right.

After graduating with a degree in Media Production five years later, I entered the "now what?" phase of my life. I had thoughts of doing something in the television industry, but I hadn't exactly applied myself in getting the best internships or making the business connections needed to succeed in that field during my college experience. I had other interests, namely in writing and producing material that could someday make it to the big screen.

So off I went, degree in hand, looking for the best job I could get. During that period of job searching, I had some time on my hands, so I decided to do something I'd always wanted to - write a novel.

It took seven months to write my first novel, Destiny's Cry. To say that it was challenging would be a huge understatement, but I enjoyed every minute of the process. By this time, I'd gotten an 8-5 job to cover those little things like eating and paying rent, so my writing schedule would entail going to coffee shops every day after work and putting pen to the paper for two to three hours. When I finally finished, I wanted to gain some hands-on experience wearing the different hats in the publishing industry, so I took the self-published route to get it in the bookstores. Having to be not only the writer, but the marketer and distributor and everything else allowed me to speak with many bookstore owners, authors and industry people. I gained a clearer picture of all that is entailed in taking a book from conception to publication (and I decided to stick to the writing…)

The biggest blessing of meeting so many people during this time (about a year and a half), however, was indirectly meeting Denise Stinson through one of those business relationships I'd formed. Marina Woods, the editor of an online book club in Chicago, was a friend of Denise's and she gave a positive referral of the book (to which I'm always thankful to Marina).

Denise contacted me shortly afterwards and during our conversation, she happened to inquire if I had written anything else. The writing bug had bitten me bad by this time, as I was just putting the last touches on the manuscript for A Man Inspired, and I replied that I had.

A few weeks later when I had finished the novel, I sent the manuscript off to Walk Worthy Press. Not long after, a contract was set up, and through working with Frances Jalet-Miller, a terrific editor at Warner Books, we persevered and were able to smooth out all the rough edges.

I wrote A Man Inspired because we often place celebrities and people of influence on pedestals, so to speak, without knowing who they are behind closed doors. That's not to say people aren't entitled to their privacy, for everybody certainly is. But character is who you are. Reputation is who you make people believe you are, and the difference more than a bit subtle.

Knowing that we all face issues that continually shape our character, I envisioned a story where a famous motivational speaker (Jermaine Hill) who provided the world with inspiration yet simultaneously dealt with troubling issues in his private life, would be forced to realize the true meaning of inspiration…the hard way. God has a way of teaching us the most important life lessons through the most unexpected, unlikely situations, and in the course of the novel, Jermaine's character is about to learn the greatest lesson of all.

In the back of my mind, I also asked the question, "What if one of the most famous personalities in America became saved and took a bold stand for Jesus Christ? What would happen? How might the public, at large, react? I praise God that A Man Inspired provided a forum for me to hash out some ideas that had been playing in my mind for a long time.

My prayer is that this book will bless and reach those people facing similar issues as Jermaine as well as inspire us all to grow closer to the Father of all inspiration - the One who breathed life into us, fashioned us in His sovereign design, and created us to give Him glory. When I consider all of that, I can't help but give God all the praise."

Derek Jackson

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